Articles from February 4, 2005

11 Held after Swoop by Immigration Officers at National Gallery; WHISTLEBLOWER AT TOP ART COLLECTION REVEALS CULTURE OF BULLYING

Byline: LUKE LEITCH ELEVEN staff at the National Gallery have been arrested and may be deported after a swoop by the Immigration Service, the Standard can reveal. The raid found two failed asylum seekers and a mixture of illegal workers and overstayers...

15,000 Are off School Every Day; FIGURES SHOW LONDON HAS WORST TRUANCY RECORD IN THE COUNTRY

Byline: DOMINIC HAYES INNER LONDON has the worst truancy rate in England, government figures reveal today. On any given day, up to 15,000 of London's one million primary and secondary school pupils are missing from lessons. They are either...

I was a Londoner in spirit from the day I bunked off school and ventured up to the great metropolis. Brought up in the depths of Sussex and sent off to a secluded boarding school in provincial Surrey, the bright lights of the city were an alluring...

Byline: SIMON DAVIS LAST week I stayed in the most expensive two-room hotel suite in London. The new Infinity Suite is in The Langham Hotel, on Portland Place, which opened in 1865. So what do you get for your [pounds sterling]6,169? A chauffeur...

Byline: ALEXA BARACAIA BBC newsreader Anna Ford has lambasted her local council over its " meanminded" and "greedy" parking rules. The veteran TV anchorwoman leapt to the defence of a builder who was fined for parking outside her Brentford home...

Byline: MICHAEL HART ARSENAL expect the Premier League to launch a full-scale investigation into allegations that Chelsea have made an illegal approach to Ashley Cole. David Dein, the Arsenal vice chairman and an FA board member, was today gathering...

Byline: ROBERT LEA BRITISH Airways is on course to reveal its biggest profits since the turn of the millennium as returning first class and business class passengers, plus a controversial fuel surcharge on ordinary passengers, offset the soaring...

Byline: ROBERT LEA BRITISH AIRWAYS today warned that fuel surcharges which add [pounds sterling]20 to every ticket are likely to stay in place for the rest of the year because of the soaring price of oil. The surcharge, which was slapped on last...

Byline: LEO SPALL THE BBC were in the dark today about proposals to move the FA Cup Final to a Wednesday night. Despite being a major stakeholder in the competition and its key promoter, the broadcaster said it had not been officially approached....

They're cheap and cheerful and a little bit cheeky but these gifts for under [pounds sterling]10 are guaranteed to put a smile on the face of your loved one this Valentine's day. However, unless you fancy being single, just make sure they aren't ALL...

Byline: MICKEY CLARK SHARES in BioProgress are showing signs of a revival after a spell in the doldrums, which is good news for what is traditionally one of the most heavily traded stocks on AIM. To describe BioProgress, which rallied 101/4p...

Byline: SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE Royal flush Only two people have access to an exclusive upstairs loo at Claridge's, which is reputed to put most other lavatories in the shade. One is the King of Spain. The other? No, not Kate Moss, who held her...

Byline: JAMES ROSSITER LONDON'S economy faces a bleak road ahead following a steady shift down in gear over the past nine months, according to the latest poll of the capital's cabbies. Less than half are optimistic about their business over the...

Byline: MATT HUGHES CHELSEA'S lead over Arsenal at the top of the Premiership may feel like a chasm consisting of two places, 13 points and 25 goals, but the real difference between the two sides lies between their posts, writes Matt Hughes. ...

Clash of the Kids; Will Sunday's Headlines Read 'Smile, It's Tait and Guile' or Will It Be 'Henson Makes Muppets out of England'? Ian Chadband Takes a Look at the Men in the Middle

Byline: IAN CHADBAND TWO GOLDEN boys. Two birthday boys. Two young centres of attention. Too much pressure? After a week in which the paeans of praise for Mathew Tait and Gavin Henson have been so effusive that you wonder how a lad's head wouldn't...

Boxer Schmeling dies Sharapova in semi's COLIN MONTGOMERIE put in a flawless performance today to claim a share of the lead in the Heineken Classic golf tournament at Royal Melbourne. Montgomerie (above), second last week at the Caltex Masters title...

Cocaine on Tap at London's Top Bars; STANDARD INVESTIGATION FINDS CLASS A DRUG TRACES AT SIX OUT OF TEN VENUES

Byline: FLORA STUBBS;MATHEUS SANCHEZ;MARK PRIGG THE scale of cocaine abuse in London can be revealed today. An Evening Standard investigation found traces of the class A drug in the lavatories of more than half of the capital's top bars and nightclubs....

Byline: ANDREW HODGSON CHELSEA'S title hopes could be damaged after new evidence emerged which appeared to confirm that Jose Mourinho did tap up Arsenal defender Ashley Cole The Premiership leaders are 11 points clear of nearest challengers Manchester...

Condoleezza Rules out Iran Attack.For Now; U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE PLAYS DOWN MILITARY ACTION IN MEETING WITH BLAIR

Byline: JOE MURPHY GEORGE BUSH'S right-hand woman played down the prospect of war with Iran after talks in London today. However, Condoleezza Rice pointedly refused to rule out a future military attack to prevent the Islamic state getting hold...

Byline: SARAH HUGHES A PILOT narrowly missed crash-landing on a housing estate after the engines failed on his four-seater plane. The middle-aged American sent out a mayday call after his Beagle Pup light aircraft began to spin out of control....

Byline: LUKE LEITCH The British Library is finally brought to book THE British Library is steeling itself to answer a request under the Freedom of Information Act to "list all items lost or stolen" since 1997. Here's one to get them started....

Dazzled by the Light on the Thames; the Connections Drawn between Turner, Whistler and Monet May Be Overdone, but Tate Britain's Exhibition Will Be Spectacular

Byline: BRIAN SEWELL A TRUTH universally acknowledged throughout my lifetime as an art historian, even as a schoolboy engrossed in Camille Mauclair's study of Turner (1947 edition), is that as a profound influence on Monet and some of his contemporaries,...

Byline: DAVID LLOYD SOME members of Michael Vaughan's squad may be showing signs of wear and tear as England's tour of South Africa rolls on. But Darren Gough has started the one-day series with a real spring in his step. At 34, Gough could be...

Drummer Driven to Suicide by Neighbour's Loud Music; Member of 70s Band Sparks Hangs Himself

Byline: MARK WILKINSON A MUSICIAN hanged himself after a neighbour drove him to distraction by playing loud music, an inquest was told. Norman "Dinky" Diamond was the drummer of Seventies band Sparks, who had hits including Never Turn Your Back...

Byline: MICKEY CLARK THE fat-fingered broker has struck again. This time the dealer with 10 thumbs got it wrong in music publisher EMI. He was asked to sell 15,000 shares at 2801/4p, but instead put up the order for 15 million worth [pounds sterling]41.5...

England Set to Hand AJ His Chance; Johnson's Dream of an International Call Could Be Sealed If He Impresses Sven Scout Tomorrow

Byline: LEO SPALL SVEN-GORAN ERIKSSON will send a scout to watch Andrew Johnson for one last time tomorrow before he names the England squad to face Holland. The head coach and his right-hand man, Tord Grip, have both checked up on the Crystal...

Byline: LEO SPALL ALAN CURBISHLEY has told Francis Jeffers and Jason Euell to be patient. The Charlton manager has upset the two big-name players by leaving them on the bench for most of the season. The pair have let him know how disappointed...

Byline: PAUL SIMS THE FA CUP Final could be played on a Wednesday at the end of next season under controversial plans revealed today. Senior FA officials believe the switch - set to infuriate supporters - will give England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson...

Byline: DAVID SMYTH Rammstein Brixton Academy GERMAN pyromaniacs Rammstein play three nights at Brixton Academy this week, just like chart-topping bands such as Franz Ferdinand and Keane. That's almost 15,000 Londoners, yet they are far from...

Geri's [Pounds Sterling] 1/2m for a Night at the Opera; PRICEY SPICE AS HALLIWELL EARNS [Pounds Sterling]1,666 A MINUTE JUST FOR BEING TYCOON'S PARTY GUEST

Byline: PATRICK SAWER AT THAT price she could have danced all night, and still have danced some more. Geri Halliwell spent a night in Vienna and was reportedly paid [pounds sterling]500,000 for the pleasure of her company. As the guest of...

TOP 5 FOR THE CHILDREN RAW London Zoo's renowned conservation work is the subject of this unique exhibition where more than 25 images link collaring a tiger in Sumatra to monitoring turtles in Mozambique. London Zoo, Regent's Park, NW1 (020...

Byline: ANTHONY HILTON FIGURES from the Halifax yesterday suggested that if we are in the middle of a housing crash, it has a funny way of showing itself. If the January numbers are echoed for the full year, it would mean a further rise in the cost...

Byline: GRAHAM CUNNINGHAM IF it's Saturday, then it must be time for messrs Pipe, Nicholls and Hobbs to mop up the big races. That's the view many punters seem to take nowadays, but a near neighbour of the 'Somerset Mafia' can upstage the big...

Health Fears as Babies Are Fed Too Much; 'OFFICIAL GUIDELINES FOLLOWED BY PARENTS ARE WRONG, LEADING TO CHILD OBESITY'

Byline: REBECCA SMITH CHILDREN'S future health is being put in danger because mothers are following official feeding guidelines - which are wrong. Growth charts showing how much babies should weigh at each age milestone have overestimated how...

Hearty Pubs; the Time for Romantic Weekends Is after the Valentine's Day Scrum, Says Lydia Gard. Then You Can Enjoy Some Serenity at These Wonderful Pubs with Rooms and Great Food within Two Hours' Drive of London

Byline: LYDIA GARD The King's Head Inn, Bledington, Oxfordshire On arriving at this 15th century inn, I fancied kicking off my wellies and joining the locals at the bar to natter about the rise of the river's water level. Or twiddling my toes...

HE'S GOT THE POWER; Battersea Power Station, One of London's Great Landmarks, Has Been Left to Rot. Charlotte Eagar Investigates the Reclusive Hong Kong Tycoon Who Owns It and His Plans for a [Pounds Sterling]1 Billion Xanadu on the Banks of the Thames

Byline: CHARLOTTE EAGAR There is something wrecked about Battersea Power Station. All those Art Deco tiles and brass fittings evoke the golden age of ocean liners: the marble floors of the control room of Turbine A, the vast wall of dials, brass...

How TV Made Me a Whole New Woman; Britons Grab Chance of Nip and Tuck for US-Style Show

Byline: VALENTINE LOW IT IS like the television series Nip/Tuck, only without the glamorous patients, the Florida sunshine or Joely Richardson. Instead there are flat-chested supermarket shelf stackers, butch-looking estate agents - and an awful...

Byline: DAVID MELLOR ALEX FERGUSON won't win too much silverware this season, but he's certainly won his war with Arsene Wenger. The once coolly cerebral Arsenal boss is becoming a gibbering wreck, seeing conspiracies at every turn. Chelsea's...

Byline: PAUL WAUGH TONY BLAIR is to launch an unprecedented immigration clampdown by charging overseas workers up to [pounds sterling]200 each to get their families into Britain. In a dramatic move before the general election, migrant workers...

Betinternet.com looks to start big Mexican wave US claws back lost jobs but the pace is slow THE US economy has recouped all the jobs lost since the start of the recession in early 2001 but non-farm payroll numbers still disappointed the City after...

Independent Insurance Collapsed Four Years Ago and Fraud Investigators Moved in, but What's Happened since Then?

Byline: JIM ARMITAGE IN FOUR months, Britain's insurance company bosses will be receiving the annual letter they despise, the one demanding they cough up their share of the compensation for policyholders who lost out from the spectacular collapse...

Is Charles in Charge? Charles Saatchi Amassed and Lost Two Great Collections of Contemporary Art - Making a Fortune in the Process. Now He's Gambling on Painting. Will It Pay off or Leave the 20th Century's Greatest Art Trader with No Worthy Legacy? Godfrey Barker Reports

Byline: MICHAEL HART;RAOUL SIMONS ROBBING the FA Cup Final of the pomp and ceremony of the most famous Saturday afternoon in the annual football calendar is a sacrilege that would again demonstrate the shallow thinking of the game's masters in Soho...

It's the Way He Tells Them; Forget Docudrama, Theatre Is about Storytelling, Says Owen McCafferty, Whose Latest Work Is an Affair of the Heart - and the Bottle

Byline: FIONA MADDOCKS OWEN McCafferty, winner of 2004's Evening Standard bursary for Most Promising Playwright, was born in Belfast. No shock there. His accent announces the fact. Scenes from the Big Picture, his 2003 epic for the National...

Byline: LEO SPALL SVEN-GORAN ERIKSSON will send a scout to watch Andrew Johnson for one last time tomorrow before he names the England squad to face Holland. The head coach and his right-hand man, Tord Grip, have both checked up on the Crystal...

Talking shops Homeward bound WITH THE unveiling of Labour's election slogan, a poll this spring seems not merely likely but almost certain. The Government's choice of words is revealing: "Britain Forward Not Back", at once an identification of Labour...

Byline: JASON BEATTIE LABOUR is using the new Freedom of Information Act to mount a pre-election campaign against Michael Howard. An internal party document shows Labour is trawling Whitehall records to try to discredit the Tory leader. The...

Byline: ROBERT LEA BRITISH Airways is on course to reveal its biggest profits since the turn of the millennium as returning first class and business class passengers, plus a controversial fuel surcharge on ordinary passengers, offset the soaring...

Byline: DAVID LLOYD GERAINT JONES produced his most promising performance yet in the opening role as England tried to take charge of their one-day series against South Africa. Jones, pushed up from No7 on this trip, contributed eight towards...

Meet Clever Trevor, Blair's Secret Weapon; FRIDAY PROFILE TREVOR BEATTIE His 'Anti-Semitic' Ads for Labour Courted Controversy - but That Is What He Does Best

Byline: PAUL WAUGH ACCORDING to Trevor Beattie, it is the easiest thing in the world to work out which way people vote. "The socialists fill up the kettle after they have made their tea in the office kitchen - and the capitalists leave it empty,"...

Million Dollar Geri; Ex-Spice Girl in Viennese Whirl as Businessman Pays [Pounds Sterling]1,666 a Minute for Her to Attend Ball

Byline: PATRICK SAWER AT THAT price she could have danced all night, and still have danced some more. Geri Halliwell spent a night in Vienna and was reportedly paid [pounds sterling]500,000 for the pleasure - a fraction short of a million dollars....

COLIN MONTGOMERIE carded a flawless second round 65 to claim a share of the clubhouse lead in the Heineken Classic at Royal Melbourne today. Montgomerie (above), second last week at the Caltex Masters title in Singapore, collected six birdies and...

Byline: JONATHAN PRYNN THE number of people getting married has risen for the second year in succession. There were 267,700 weddings in England and Wales in 2003, 4.7 per cent higher than the previous year, according to official figures published...

More Students Are Hit by Mumps Epidemic as Cases Rise Tenfold; OUTBREAKS NATIONWIDE AS DOCTORS OPEN EMERGENCY CLINICS

Byline: REBECCA SMITH THERE are fears of a mumps epidemic today as another group of students was hit by the potentially fatal disease. There have been five confirmed and 21 suspected cases of mumps reported at Kingston University in the last...

Mourinho Is Looking for a New Long-Term Contract; Chelsea's Ambitious Manager Has Said He Wants to Stay at Stamford Bridge for Another Eight Years Matt Hughes Reports

Byline: MATT HUGHES JOSE MOURINHO is seeking a new eight-year contract as a reward for taking Chelsea to the verge of their first Championship in 50 years. Mourinho signed a four-year [pounds sterling]4milliona-year deal at Stamford Bridge last...

Mourinho Wants Eight-Year Deal; Chelsea Coach's 'Extraterrestrial' Contract Set to Get Even Better

Byline: MATT HUGHES JOSE MOURINHO is seeking a new eight-year contract as a reward for taking Chelsea to the verge of their first Championship in 50 years. Mourinho signed a four-year [pounds sterling]4million-a-year deal last summer, but such...

MPs Plan to Challenge Charles over Camilla's Spending; TOP AIDES WILL BE SUMMONED TO EXPLAIN WHY SHE SHARES HIS STAFF AS WELL AS HIS HOUSE

Byline: ROBERT JOBSON PRINCE CHARLES faces a parliamentary grilling over the cost of Camilla Parker Bowles in the first public inquiry into his finances. MPs will question two of the Prince's top aides about his income from the Duchy of Cornwall....

New Generation; Who Would Have Thought That a Girl from Sunderland Could Make Sarah Jessica Parker Fall in Love with Gap? Annabel Rivkin Meets Louise Trotter, the Womenswear Designer Who Has Turned the All-American Brand from Purveyor of Bland Basics to Darling of the Fashion World Cut

Byline: ANNABEL RIVKIN Imagine, if you will, a world without Gap: a world where you're always hunting for the perfect white T-shirt, where you have to panic about finding a cute present for a newborn baby, where you know you need colourful cords...

And another thing... Police name woman killed in blaze with two firefighters A WOMAN who died in a blaze at a block of flats which also claimed the lives of two firemen was named by police today. pictured, a mother of two sons, perished in the...

And another thing... Hidden [pounds sterling]12.5m portrait of Omai to go on show at Tate No spoof, Casino Royale will be the next Bond film THE hidden [pounds sterling]12.5 million portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds of Omai is to go on show at Tate...

Byline: ANDREW HODGSON THE sensational row between Chelsea and Arsenal over Ashley Cole was reignited today after new evidence emerged which appeared to confirm that Jose Mourinho did tap up the England defender. A new witness has come forward...

Nipped and Tucked ... Now We Feel like a Woman; TWO BRITONS GO UNDER SURGEON'S KNIFE FOR A NEW LOOK ... ALL IN FRONT OF CAMERAS

Byline: VALENTINE LOW IT IS LIKE the television series Nip/Tuck, only without the glamorous patients, the Florida sunshine or Joely Richardson. Instead there are supermarket shelf-stackers, estate agents - and an awful lot of surgical close-ups....

Byline: DANIEL LEE The Friday Night Project 10pm, Channel 4 WHAT is it about the schedules late on a Friday night that compels TV executives to ditch any sense of quality and opt for the most banal and juvenile of programme formats? Ah...

Byline: A.N. WILSON THERE is a breathtakingly good moment in Dickens's novel Our Mutual Friend when the semidrowned body of Rogue Riderhood is taken out of the Thames, and friends and enemies alike hover anxiously around. "Stay! Did that eyelid...

Byline: SAM LYON OXFORD University wants to change students up to [pounds sterling]20,000 a year in tuition fees in a move that has been slammed as elitist. Chris Patten, the university's chancellor, demanded that the Government remove the [pounds...

Papa's the Daddy; Diop Is Now Fully Focused at Fulham Thanks to His Pal Camara

Byline: STUART JAMES HENRI CAMARA knows a good player when he sees one. The Senegal international, who this week joined Southampton from Celtic, told Papa Bouba Diop in the summer that the Premiership was perfect for his domineering style of play....

DAILY MAIL A BATTERED teddy bear belonging to an Italian girl rescued from a tsunami nearly a century ago is going up for auction. The girl, known only as Feodora, lost her family when a giant wave hit Sicily in 1908. Her bear is expected to fetch...

Byline: DANIEL LEE The Friday Night Project 10pm, Channel 4 IT IS new, it is much-hyped and, if you believe Channel 4, it is going to be big. But, sadly, it is far from clever. In fact, this comedy entertainment show makes you wonder what...

Popping the Question Time; AUDIENCE MEMBER PROPOSES LIVE ON TV AS NEW FIGURES SHOW MARRIAGE IS ON THE RISE

Byline: VALENTINE LOW WHEN the young man in the white shirt - yes sir, you with the glasses - got ready to ask Question Time's last question of the night, the panel could never had guessed what was coming. They had already dealt with such topics...

Byline: PAUL WAUGH TONY BLAIR is to launch an unprecedented immigration clampdown by charging some overseas workers up to [pounds sterling]200 each to get their families into Britain. In a dramatic move before the general election, migrant workers...

Byline: ROBERT JOBSON PRINCE CHARLES faces a parliamentary grilling over the cost of Camilla Parker Bowles in the first public inquiry into his finances. MPs will question two of Charles's top aides about his income from the Duchy of Cornwall....

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? AM extremely concerned about the speed with which Lambeth and Wandsworth parking attendants swoop, often in groups of two or three. I have a dodgy hip and it's a fairly slow shuffle for me to walk to the payanddisplay meter....

PAUL IFILL will have an operation to cure his long-term ankle injury today, a procedure that will sideline him for a further three months. The skillful midfielder has missed most of Millwall's season because of the problem and is holding on to the...

Byline: ANDRE PAINE A ROW broke out today over a ticket booking fiasco on the railways. Passengers are unable to buy tickets for some trains due to travel only a fortnight later because of a breakdown of the reservations system. Train companies...

Byline: VICTOR LEWIS-SMITH Body Wars Discovery IF you're working a 140-hour week to pay off the mortgage on a house that's far bigger than you ever wanted (and that you never see in daylight because you're always at the office), then here's...

Byline: RAOUL SIMONS ANDY REID believes his international experience with the Republic of Ireland leaves him well equipped to handle the demands of the Premiership. The 22-year-old, signed by Tottenham this week from Nottingham Forest for [pounds...

Byline: CHRIS JONES THE Year of the Lion has been particularly unkind to England and the portents for the Six Nations championship, which starts tomorrow, suggest that Andy Robinson and his injury-ravaged squad should be prepared for more of the...

Byline: KEN ELLIOTT TOM BRADY'S first Super Bowl win was followed by dates with supermodels and visits to the Playboy Mansion, Disney World and the White House, writes Ken Elliott. His second earned him an invite to America's State of the Union...

So When Can We Expect the Raid on Prince Harry's Favourite Club, Sir Ian? AS THE NEW MET COMMISSIONER PLEDGES A CRACKDOWN ON MIDDLE CLASS-DRUG TAKING, WE UNCOVER THE SCALE OF THE PROBLEM

Byline: FLORA STUBBS;MATTEUS SANCHEZ;MARK PRIGG THE scale of cocaine use in London can be revealed today. An Evening Standard investigation found traces of the illegal class A drug at more than half of the capital's top bars and nightclubs. ...

Byline: ROBERT LEA IN the global corporate marketplace there are few British champions, but amid the axle grease of logistics Exel is a world leader, writes Robert Lea. Yet if the so-called men in dark glasses who fuel the City rumour mill are...

Byline: ROBERT LEA IN the global corporate marketplace there are few British champions, but amid the axle grease of logistics group Exel is a world leader. Yet if the so-called men in dark glasses who fuel the City rumour mill are to be believed,...

email: cityspy@standard.co.uk ONCE, it seemed, the only people destined to make serious money out of the web were pornographers. But online gambling businesses are running them close. Latest to prosper is PartyGaming, a poker and casino operator that...

Byline: LEO SPALL SVEN-GORAN ERIKSSON will send a scout to watch Andrew Johnson for one last time tomorrow before he names the England squad to face Holland. The head coach and his righthand man, Tord Grip, have both checked up on the Crystal...

Byline: SARAH FRATER Royal Ballet/Manon Royal Opera House IS Manon Sylvie Guillem's finest role? At last night's opening night of The Royal Ballet's current run, the French ballerina left you gaping as she went from convent runaway to luscious...

Byline: REBECCA SMITH BRITAIN is gripped by fears of a mumps epidemic as cases of the disease hit a 15-year high. Latest figures revealed a 14-fold increase in the number of suspected cases in the past year with 1,000 children, teenagers and...

Byline: STUART JAMES HENRI CAMARA knows a good player when he sees one. The Senegal international, who this week joined Southampton from Celtic, told Papa Bouba Diop in the summer that the Premiership was perfect for his domineering style of play....

The Top Ten. Turncoats; Teetotal Gwyneth Promotes Martini and Stella Wears Leather - What a Surprise! They Flaunt Their Principles, but These Celebrities Don't Always Practise What They Preach URBAN FOX

Shortly after announcing her pregnancy, Julia Roberts said she would be taking a career break of at least five years. Her trainer announced: 'She's waited so long to be a mother, and fought so hard to be one, that she wants to devote all her time to...

Time for England to Roar like Lions; Andy Robinson's Side Have Been Badly Hit by Injuries but in Cardiff Tomorrow the Players That Remain Can Boost Their Bid for a Place on Rugby's Biggest Tour, Reports Chris Jones

Byline: CHRIS JONES THE Year of the Lion has been particularly unkind to England and the portents for this RBS Six Nations championship suggest that Andy Robinson and his injury-ravaged squad should be prepared for more of the same. There have...

Byline: NICHOLAS DE JONGH THERE HAVE been few occasions in my theatregoing life when I have been more comprehensively thrilled, moved or excited. Friedrich Schiller's classic tragedy of 16th-century Spain stirs a fatal brew of politics and sexual...

The short jacket is the cream of the crop this season, taking you anywhere from the red carpet to the shops. Sienna Miller gets her engagement ring tightened at Theo Fennell in an Alexander McQueen crop jacket. Audrey Tautou does gamine Audrey Hepburn...

Tory Chief: We Can Defy Polls and Win; PARTY CHAIRMAN LIAM FOX PREPARES FOR A SNAP ELECTION IN APRIL

Byline: JOE MURPHY TORY chairman Liam Fox today ordered his troops to get ready for a surprise general election on 21 April. He told the Standard he is convinced Tony Blair is getting ready to "cut and run" with a snap poll. His alert came...

Byline: DICK MURRAY A MAJOR new crackdown against ticket cheats is to be launched next week by London's three busiest rail operators. Companies responsible for carrying 500,000 passengers every day say they are determined to stop fare dodgers...

Treasury Accused of Delaying ERM Fiasco Documents; FORMER PREMIER AND CHANCELLOR IN FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ROW BY JASON BEATTIE

THE Treasury was at the centre of a "cover-up" row today after it delayed the release of sensitive papers on the Black Wednesday disaster. The documents have reportedly been held back after a last-minute intervention by John Major and Norman Lamont,...